As more people turn to electronic communications for their social and professional interaction with others, people are finding their electronic communications interfaces becoming cluttered and unmanageable. For instance, people now often use their e-mail accounts to send text-based messages, photographs, videos, songs, links to web pages, newsletters, invitations to events, etc. As a result, most people have e-mail inboxes that are filled with a wide variety of communications, which they receive at various times in the day, whether they are at or away from their computers. With the growth of mobile devices and online applications, people are also sending more short messaging service (SMS) messages or “text messages” and instant messages (IMs), as well as messages specific to various social networking portals.
The various proliferating forms of communication have made it difficult to select between these communication forms or channels in an intuitive and efficient manner. For example, when deciding to send an electronic communication to another person, a user must decide whether to send an e-mail, an instant message (IM), a text message (SMS), a social portal message (e.g., Facebook message), or a status update, among other communication forms. The interfaces or systems for sending such communications may exist in different places (e.g., email in a webmail browser, IM in a standalone software program, SMS in a mobile device, etc.), any of which may or may not be open or available at the user's convenience. For example, a person may wish to send an SMS even though he or she does not have a mobile device handy. Alternatively, a person might have a computer and mobile device at their disposal but be unsure of which form of communication their intended recipient may prefer to receive. Moreover, some people may consciously prefer certain communication channels over others, or they may be unaware that they tend to use certain communication channels over others, based on who they are communicating with, the time of day, day of week, location, and so on.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for improved communications systems and methods that can overcome one or more of the problems set forth above. Moreover, there is a need for improved systems and methods for electronically distributing messages over communication channels, as well as an improved interface for managing such messages.